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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Representation and formalisation: a settlement of contradictions
Author:Meth, Paula
Year:2000
Periodical:Urban Forum
Volume:11
Issue:1
Pages:30-48
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:development
segregation
External link:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF03036830
Abstract:Relocation settlements were established in South Africa between the 1950s and 1970s to accommodate people who had been forcibly removed from other areas. This paper investigates a local development policy for the residential settlement of Bilanyoni (Frischgewaagd), a former relocation settlement in Northern KwaZulu Natal, with a population of about 30,000. It specifically explores the contradictory processes of representation and formalization embodied in the development policy, arguing that some of these contradictions arise from a disjuncture between the historical representations of relocation settlements in general, and the process of formalization. The paper discusses the problematic representation of relocation settlements, as 'dumping grounds', in general. Linking this representation to her research carried out in Bilanyoni, the author indicates instances of 'representational failure'. Finally, she examines the contradictions inherent in the process of political, physical, and financial formalization through an examination of the opinions of local residents and officials. The process of formalization is evident as the focus of the development policy Frischgewaagd Project Proposal. The author argues that the process of political, physical and financial formalization is also a process of re-presenting the settlement as a formalized area rather than a dumping ground. The paper is based on interviews with thirty households in the settlement in 1997. Bibliogr., notes.
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